With the U.S. experiencing an extremely high number of initial unemployment claims, WalletHub released updated rankings for the States with the Biggest Increases in Unemployment Due to Coronavirus.
To identify which states have experienced the largest unemployment increases, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key metrics. These metrics compare initial unemployment claim increases for the week of March 30, 2020 to both the same week in 2019 and the first week of 2020. Below, you can see highlights from the report, along with a Q&A.
Increase in New York Unemployment Due to Coronavirus (1=Worst, 25=Avg.):
- 2639.40% increase in the Number of Unemployment Insurance Initial Claims – from 12,603 the week of April 1, 2019 to 345,246 the week of March 30, 2020. 18th lowest increase in the U.S.
- 669.85% increase in the Number of Unemployment Insurance Initial Claims – from 44,846 in the first week of the year to 345,246 the week of March 30, 2020. 3rd lowest increase in the U.S.
Q&A
How do red states and blue states compare when it comes to increases in unemployment?
“With an average unemployment rank of 25, Red States suffered a higher increase of their unemployment during the coronavirus outbreak than Blue States, which rank 27 on average,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “The lower the rank, the higher the increase in initial unemployment claims that state received during the coronavirus pandemic.”
How has New York’s unemployment rate been affected?
“New York has seen a 670% increase in initial unemployment claims from the beginning of 2020 to the 14th week,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “This is better than the average increase of 2,193%.”
What can states do in order to minimize the rise in their unemployment rates?
“States should aggressively focus on helping the companies in the most need. The federal response will include sending checks to most citizens, even those whose income has not been affected by the coronavirus. States can use a more targeted approach to divert resources to the companies affected the most, thus having maximum impact for the money spent,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst.
